User Reviews

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 is chaotic, weird and oftentimes ridiculous, but it is also full of heart, emotion and great themes.

I must say that it's the best Marvel movie since Endgame. That's not necessarily too hard though. It just needed to surpass No Way Home; which had some amazing high moments, but it was lazy in others. Marvel was in desperate need of a hit, and they've finally got it.

Highlights:

Every member of the crew got their time to shine. Rocket was definitely the one who stood out though. When he sees his friend die, then wail in pain from grief? That made me bawl. And when the High Evolutionary mocks him? Man. Heavy stuff. He proceeds to rip off his face, but the other two of his friends are shot as well. Thus, Rocket's traumatic pastime is revealed.

Chukwudi Iwuji was fantastic as the villain. At certain points he was downright terrifying. I really liked this line: "There is no God, that's why I took his place." He was a convincing villain.

The moment when Star-lord screams in agony for Rocket to live, is the moment that resonated with me the most. He has lost many people close to him and he can't stand to lose anyone else.

Gamora 2 gets a lot of character development and I'm glad she didn't kiss Quill at the end. That would have felt a little cheap.

Drax, Mantis, Nebula, Adam Warlock and others also got their own moments as well. I'm surprised nobody died to be honest.

One of the only problems I had with the movie was the humor. A lot of the time it was good or passable, but other times it undercut really emotional scenes.

I could say a lot more, but this review is already very long.

9/10 for me.

So first of all, everything to do with Rocket in this movie is absolutely incredible and heartfelt. I'd even argue that his flashbacks are some of the best scenes we've seen in any Marvel film to date. On top of that, I really appreciated just how much this whole movie pushes the boundaries of its PG13 rating. We get the first Marvel f-bomb as well as some pretty gory moments by MCU standards. It can clearly be seen that James Gunn was given a lot of leeway to make the movie he wanted and so he was able to get away with a lot more and make callbacks to his horror roots. Additionally, the whole Guardians team has great chemistry together as always and it's great to just be able to see them interact with each other again. I liked the way the movie dealt with Gamora returning and her relationship with Peter Quill. On top of that, I loved the moment when the movie jokingly hinted that we might get something between Star Lord and Nebula which oddly enough I wish we did get, it would've been a great subversion of expectations.

Now onto the stuff I liked less and I'll start with the comedy. This was already beginning to be an issue for me with the 2nd movie and it's a problem that all modern Marvel movies have. The comedy in GOTG 3 often felt forced and the jokes were drawn out for too long. I realize that this series is known for being very comedic but maybe the jokes just needed to be placed more naturally, instead of being forced in so much. However, it's just my opinion though and I at least appreciate that there weren't any jokes in the moments that were supposed to be serious. Furthermore, the soundtrack was less appealing to me this time around but it might just be due to my preference for 70s soft rock and this entry expanding into a different musical era. On top of that, it does what all Marvel projects do which is have a massive CGI battle at the end. And yes, some moments are great in this battle like the one-take corridor sequence but I was still left switching off and thinking about something else when the bloated action sequences were happening. What did keep me engaged for the most part however was the genuine tension that I felt as I was sure that one or more of the Guardians will be dead by the end. The tension however was unwarranted as no characters died and this was a major disappointment.

The lack of character deaths prevented this film from feeling like the finale it was intended to be. If one or two Guardians bit the bullet in a definitive way I would've probably raised my rating to an 8. If Rocket wasn't laid out for most of the film and instead was kidnapped, he could've died during the final battle. The heaven scene could've then actually ended with him following Lylla and thus maximizing the emotional impact. Additionally, I feel like Star Lord perishing would've really been a great way to end it all but maybe in a better manner than with him trying to save his Zune. Also, the Guardians splitting up doesn't feel satisfying at all to me. It's the classic trope of a group of people splitting up only to realize they were the happiest when they were together. This is all just my opinion but the lack of finality and the setup for all of these characters returning in future Marvel movies lessened the supposed impact of this being the last time we see the Guardians together. We might not get Guardians of the Galaxy 4, although I wouldn't be surprised if we do but I bet we will see them team up again together in Avengers or another project, even if briefly. It all just doesn't feel like the epic conclusion that we were promised but rather a setup for how these characters will feature in the MCU going forward. I guess comic book movies can never have proper endings and even something great like Logan proves it with Hugh Jackman set to return for Deadpool 3. Maybe I shouldn't expect these films to provide conclusions because the studios will always try to get more from these characters and actors if there is money to be made. However, overall, even though a lot of this review might've seemed negative I did very much enjoy the movie but it just didn't wow me like it seemed to do most people and it simply lacked the finality that I personally desired from it.

I love Guardians of the Galaxy - a group of misfits who are wholesome, kind, imperfect and therefore wonderful. However this movie is going to give kids the same level of trauma that Never Ending Story, Dumbo, Watership Down, Bambi, etc etc gave Gen X. Absolutely brutal animal cruelty scenes (for some reason it's easier to cope with villains who only target humans) and it had me balling my eyes out at certain points (poor Rocket and his friends). While it ends up mostly okay, I'm never watching it again as long as I live. Triggered all sorts of childhood movie PTSD - not sure it needed to be that harsh and traumatising to be honest!

One word comes to mind: contrivance.

This film is one gigantic contrivance. Plot, character, heck everything. It commits the worst sin a film like this can make, it's boring.

Remember how much fun the first Guardians movie was? Remember how sweet and lovable those characters were? Remember how fresh and silly but genuinely entertaining it was?

That's absent here. The movie is overblown, overwrought and has absolutely no clue what it wants to be.

Talking about no clue...Adam Warlock. Oh my gosh, they had absolutely no idea what to do with him. It's like they just threw him in because he's been teased in the previous movies. Now he's here and he's not exciting, enjoyable or remotely necessary to the story. Waste of everyone's time.

Over the last 9 years we've grown to love these characters. Here, they are bigger, and meaner facsimiles of themselves (to varying degrees) and most importantly I just didn't buy what they were selling.

The movie feels like a theme park attraction, but in that cheesy and stupid way you can't help to roll your eyes at. There's very little heart and almost no soul in the movie. It's just going through the motions of a Marvel movie. It's a product that is there to be consumed, but like anything that's made without care or purpose, it leaves you feeling empty inside.

Chris Pratt used to be endearing and charming. There was a comedic sensibility to his Peter Quill that was like a child playing Han Solo. That relatability is gone. There are a few lines that land, but most just feel unnecessary. He drops an f-bomb that is funny, but also felt unnecessary immediately afterward.

The only thing that worked for me was Rocket and his backstory. They took my favorite character in the Guardians and they framed the film around him, and let me say that it's the only thing that remotely works. We are told his origin while he is in a coma for the majority of the film. His story is engaging, it's a bit unsettling and the only thing that keeps this unnecessarily long film even remotely worth the investment of time.

The High Evolutionary, always an intriguing and engaging villain, falls into the Marvel trap of becoming just another bad guy who, while having a purpose for his evil, just isn't all that compelling and interesting to give us a reason to care about what he's doing. He's unsympathetic and poorly deployed. There's very little threat from him, and his motives aren't all that exciting, but I will say they do ring true from his comic counterpart. I'd have leaned into a body horror concept and made it more Dr. Moreau, but here it's a lame, loud and obnoxious version that just didn't engage me.

I saw this with a bunch of Marvel fans, everyone around me stuck around for the mid and post-credit scenes and throughout the film, I heard so many people being so frustrated and laughing at how dumb the movie was.

We've come to expect a lot from James Gunn. He's a fantastic director, and has the ability to add genuine pathos and soul to many of his characters. Here, we get something that feels half baked and overcooked at the same time. Too many characters, too many plot contrivances that happen out of absolutely nowhere and at the end of the day, it's just not worth the time, money or effort.

I wanted to leave the theater. I actually wanted it to end sooner. Gone was that feeling of being a 7 year old. The joy, the wonder the feeling of exhilaration...it's all gone.

I try not to be negative, I don't want to rant about things I hate. I want to spread joy, happiness and love. But so many times I found myself wanting to yell at the screen for insulting mine and the audience's collective intelligence and good faith that they had previously earned. When the final dance number (yes, dance number) happened I just felt embarrassed.

It left me thinking one thing: exactly who is this movie for? It's too dour and mean for kids, and not engaging or smart enough to appear to adults.

Oh, and I wanted to scream at what they did with Groot at the end too.

This is probably my favourite of the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies. James Gunn toned it down in the comedy department with this one to give us a more complex, intriguing and serious story. The film kept all the charm of the crew in it and still had the unique style that the guardians movies have. Mostly to do with the music, always look forward to music in these movies and the soundtrack was fantastic! Emotional and energetic! I loved it! It managed to give us a really emotional story for Rocket whilst having time for everyone else in the film, it was very well written to do that with so many cast members involved. The Rocket storyline is absolutely tragic, and it was really upsetting to hear and watch, even made me cry. The things they did and hearing him cry and squeal as he was ripped apart was really sad and to have what happened to his friends too was the bit that made me cry, the pain of rocket is really heartbreaking as all he wanted to do was free his friends and live with them. There was a lot of shock in the film as things happened that I wouldn't expect and that was great too. Drax who we have had glimpses of has been fully fleshed out in this one with talking about his daughter again which is a big part of the character and him being told he was made to be a dad. Star Lord got more of his Earth story being told and going back to see his grandpa was really cool. Everyone else was really cool too and more Cosmo was awesome! Adam Warlock was good and I can't wait to see more of him but he was a side character for now. It was quite dark for a marvel film with bloody scenes and even the F word was in there! Really enjoyed a more gritty tone in marvel. It was an emotional journey with our characters for one last time and it was one that was awesome but made me cry. Can't wait to see the new guardians of the galaxy at play as they have really cool characters in that roster. Fantastic movie! Loved it to bits!

I'm seeing mostly glowing reviews and I think I may have seen a different movie. This was a loud, annoying, confused movie. It couldn't get out of it's own way. Somehow dark and cutesy at the same time. Adam Warlock was unnecessary to the story and poorly written. Many of the main characters are at death's door on many occasions with no consequences. Multiple fight scenes involving every character so you can't tell what's happening. Drax and Mantis' banter is mostly just obnoxious. They're like kids you just want to smack the whole time. Nebula just yells at everybody for 2 and a half hours. The High Evelutionary is way too over the top to the point where he's mostly just distracting. There were audible groans in the theater when Kraglin sees Yondu during the big battle.

There were positives, too. The flashbacks of Rocket were well done and moving. The FX were mostly great. Some of the songs were great songs and fit well in the movie. Some of the banter was funny. There was just way too much.

Ok when I stepped into the theater I was expecting to walk out listing to jams BUT I cried walking out because this movie shows the biggest emotion ever to movies I've seen this is no happy ending this is a action ending. Rocket it the main character who is dreaming about his childhood when he got hurt and is in the coma while Star lord and the other guardians try to help him. But the antagonist is the evolutionary who evolves things and wants to study rockets brain because he could solve something he could not. With Yondu coming back made me happy because he rocked in the last movie even though he is dead he is there. Star lord gives the guardians leader name to rocket at the end and leaves to live with his grandfather and at the end of the credit cut scene it says " The legendary Star lord will return."